Instagram vs Reality: The REAL Story Behind My Travels
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2020
- A cursed trip, a terrible mistake, and THE WORST HOTEL EVER. I'm still mad about it.
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TRAVEL VIDEOS MENTIONED
Iceland • My Solo Road Trip Thro...
Portugal • My Solo Trip to Portug...
The lost wallet story: • My BIGGEST Solo Travel...
Kyoto • My Solo Trip to Japan ...
Alaska • My Solo Trip to ALASKA...
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Your turn! What has gone wrong for you when traveling? And check out Skillshare - the first 500 people who use this link will get 2 months FREE of Skillshare Premium! skl.sh/allisonanderson
Currently, I'm supposed to be packing for an 8 day road trip... Instead, I'm sick & waiting on COVID-19 test results 😔 Not exactly the summer vacation we were hoping for.
@@3rin817 Hugs!!! 🤗
Also; I've stayed in 2 places that the room was occupied by "Someone" else already! Let's just say I hid under the covers and asked Jesus to make them go away!!!
One time my family and i went to Cancun and we booked a tour through Isla Contoy and Isla Mujeres. The thing is that in Isla Contoy there was this man from the tour who was a photographer who took us a photoshoot, then we left that island and went straight into Isla Mujeres. At that moment we looked at the pics the guy took us and we didn't liked them so we told him that we were not going to be buying them. Longstory short we asked him the time when we needed to get back to the tour and he told us a wrong time! So we missed our little ship and then we got lost in Cancun lol 😂
I left my phone on a Lyft ride my first full day on vacay. Followed the steps found on the website to get in contact with the driver and heard nothing for 24 hrs. Finally my cousin texted my phone with her contact info and I was able to get it back the next day. Lesson learned though: put extra contact info somewhere on your phone for someone to use. Also, the lyft team isn't the most reliable.... Have a friend text ur phone with another number to contact and hope the driver sees it.
This is probably one of the most entertaining videos you've ever posted. I honestly wouldn't mind if you ranted about how many things went wrong during the actual travel videos. Something always goes wrong, no journey is perfect! And so sorry you were ill in Iceland. Getting ill whilst travelling is one of the worst things that can happen because it can really ruin everything.
I remember the first time I traveled alone, I dropped my phone trying to take a photo, and my phone was completely broken and unable to turn on. I had no idea how to contact my husband... or let anyone know what happened. Then I remembered I had my iPad.. but it was soooo outdated that nothing worked on it so I spent the entire night updating it to keep in contact with him and entertain myself. I didn't realize how reliant I was on my phone until I didn't have it while alone in a different state. Couldn't call ubers, research food places, or even know the time while walking through the airport. lol. There are so many things you don't realize you use your iPhone for. lol
It's crazy how much we rely on them!
Your impression of the front desk manager! OHMYGOD AHAHAHAH
Can I just say how much I like the way you talk? You're so articulate! One of the reasons I started watching TH-cam was to improve my English and your videos are some of the best I've found (in addition to being fun and helpful). Thank you for this :)
WAIT THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA!!! Behind the scenes stuff is definitely something I love watching and I do like ranting videos in between regular more positive videos
Dang! You would’ve never known you went through some pretty awful situations through your travel videos. They seem like literal perfection. Thank you for being real with us, it’s much appreciated. Also...the rat situation. OMG I can’t believe you actually made it through the night at that place, that’s CRAZY!
I know I would have checked out and slept in the car.
Yeah I honestly didn't have much of a choice, the reason the hotel was so expensive to begin with is because of the demand in Anchorage in the summer (it was the longest day of the year when I was there, so very popular for tourists), so everywhere else was completely sold out. Otherwise I would have probably packed my stuff and just left!
Allison Anderson Wow! Well props to you, you made it through! 😅
Please tell me you left a scathing review online for that hotel in Alaska 😂😳
I want more of these videos! This was super duper interesting!
Loved this video! I think it would be great if, after every trip, you posted your normal travel video and then a “behind the scenes” or something with what went wrong or what went really right. It could be an opportunity to rant about the bad and to give the good, and also travel advice specific to that destination :)
this made me feel so much better....i just got back from my first solo trip and so much went wrong lol. i almost had to evacuate my airbnb because of a wildfire, i booked a tour and went to the wrong address, etc. i still had a good time and made the most of it but seeing how you’ve continued to solo travel for years even after a rough start is so inspiring to me!
It’s so refreshing to hear about what went wrong on your travels because I know I’ve experienced it all on mine. I always tend to fall sick (usually travel for about a month) and while I always take preventative steps it’s quite inevitable. Most recently during my trip to japan I realised how important it is to choice your travel companions wisely and how much I prefer solo travelling. While often things don’t go right, looking back on my travels as a whole I see them through rose coloured nostalgia glasses and would do it all over again just to experience the good parts again.
Really enjoy the reality of the trips. Great idea !!!!
Forever envious of all of Allison’s travel adventures! ❤️ it’s so true though that travel is not always relaxing and glamorous! I cried the first day I arrived in Europe from Canada because I was so overtired, hungry and stressed from trying to find my way around hahah!
Got so excited to see another video of you on my feed!!
I love listening to these stories so much! Great having travel vloggers show the grittier realities of travel xxx
Love the transparency :) am looking forward to booking a trip ASAP once it’s safe to. Recently stumbled upon your channel and love what you’ve been posting!
Loved seeing your behind the scenes Allison! It's always interesting to see how much effort goes into making your travel videos and the issues that can arise.
I really enjoyed hearing your stories, especially since I'm not doing much travelling these days. And sidenote, I love the length of your hair in your Iceland clips 😍
I loved your Alaska vlog, my fave one of yours!! You need to start sharing all the real unglamorous stories in your travel vlogs! People appreciate that and would give them a more real look at solo travel, loved this share!
So happy you are posting more - I really love your content!
I love your storytelling skills :) I'm sure I'm not alone- we want more
I absolutely loved this video!! Who doesn’t travel and have horror stories like this?! Honestly though they’re the best memories aren’t they?
I like the idea of doing the "reality" separately but I would love to see more of these videos, too! I love the cinematic trip vlogs and then adding a "behind the scenes" video after. This was so enlightening and helpful!
I have been enjoying your content so much Allison, I just recently rediscovered you! I used to watch your beauty videos ages ago and honestly I am happy to see you pivoted and you seem happier and more yourself. Honestly keep up the good work! You are encouraging me to take the bold step to downsize my life. God bless You!
Also really love all your lifestyle and travel content! I remember watching you and other beauty gurus collab back in the earlier days. I joined TH-cam around 2012 and at that time your “what’s in my bag” videos and shopping hauls and beauty room organizations were what I looked forward to! But in this era of my life (mid-twenties versus mid-teens) I really enjoy this kind of content-minimalism and travel! Looking forward to more of your creations (:
Loved this one, thanks for sharing!
Watching these kinds of videos really helps me get a sense of solo travelling. I'm so scared of the concept of solo travelling because of all the what ifs, especially when travel vloggers make their travels look effortlessly perfect and seamless. This definitely eased my mind about my fears, and this was such an entertaining video too! Your clips of those destinations are also so stunning!
Such a great video idea! I love that your channel is a place of positivity but sometimes shit happens especially while traveling lol so it’s really interesting to hear those not so perfect moments, too 💙
Love this video Allison! It's actually reassuring to know that others also have travel blunders... I did a lot of inter-railing across Europe when I was in my early 20s and the amount of frustrating experiences my husband and I came across was unreal. We kinda just thought we had bad luck! Weirdly though, we both still talk with great delight about those adventures and would still to this day say that those were the best holidays we've ever experienced. Also, I'm so inspired that you did these holidays solo - I'm considering a trip for myself since watching your series!
Loved the stories in this video! I would say though - when I watch your videos, everything seems to perfect and your life looks amazing. Being more real like this would make me feel a lot less inadequate after watching one of your amazing trips! I would personally enjoy it if you were more real, even when you're trying to showcase the destination :)
Omg please make more of these types of videos! So funny!
Loved this!! More of these please :) !
This was so great!! I've always loved your channel and you helped inspire me to travel solo and even start my own channel as well. :)
Hearing your Iceland trip wasn’t perfect is such a relief! You inspired me to go there as my first solo trip in March 2019 and it felt like anything that could go wrong, did go wrong: the rental car place lost my booking so I had to get a car with a crack in the windshield because it was the only one left, terrible winds closed down a road which made me have to skip my ice cave tour (that I booked in Hofn coincidentally!), a dog sled tour that I planned my whole trip around was announced as cancelled only after I drove through a random white out and arrived at the farm-but as challenging as it was, it has since made me feel so confident/unstoppable when things go awry when traveling. And, it still ended up being a great trip!
Loved this story telling style of video!
I used to watch your videos when you lived in LA and talked about beauty but I have to say, I’ve fallen back in love with your videos and I’ve enjoyed watching you evolve!!
Loved this video and just wanted to pop on here and say that I also love your background! It’s gorgeous yet simple
LOL! Loved this video. Thanks for sharing your honest experiences. Have you ever considered buying a van (and converting it into your home) or a small RV and traveling the US in it? I've seen so many many videos about people doing this. Then you don't even have to deal with hotel issues. Of course you can go that route when you are going over seas unless you get there and then rent something.
Love this video, traveling always brings so many memories, good and bad! 😁
So fun and real. Love this
I enjoyed this video as much as I enjoyed the original travel videos! Your Iceland solo travel video inspired me to travel to Zion National Park by myself after my graduation when I couldn't get anyone else to go with me. It was awesome and nothing really went wrong, but the entire time I felt very dumb and vulnerable. I thought it was just me, so it is really refreshing to hear that your trips have not gone perfectly!!
I can totally relate to this. A friend and I had so many bad experiences when we went to Scotland just getting there we had two canceled flight! A flat tire the first day we got there and on and on it went. We got to the point where we started laughing about it. Thinking ok what else do you have for us. It makes a great story and tons of laughs!!!
Wow your Iceland trip is literally so similar to how my trip to Ireland went! Looking back I definitely remember everything that went wrong and I was not a happy camper at the time but overall I had a great trip so yes traveling has its moments, honestly I don't think anything ever goes exactly right but you make the most of it and it's still worth it all in the end!
Thank you for keeping it 💯. I love your current background
Yay!! I suggested this, SO happy you did it! 🥰
What a great video idea! Thanks for sharing
Love this video and I love travel! I subscribed..!!
I loved this video, hilarious 😂. I know my laughter is at your expense but as you are well and laughing about it now makes me feel better. Look forward now for the next 🙂
Love this video idea! I would love to see more :)
This video was so entertaining to watch! Wish it was longer haha. Please do a part 2!
Well...that just confirmed why I’ll never travel alone! lol
Omg 😂 I have been watching you for literally YEARS and this is the most I’ve laughed at one of your videos! It’s funny, I could always tell that underneath your very seemingly reserved personality that you had a wicked sense of humour! ❤️
I loved this video. So entertaining!
“...I was bunking with a RAT!” 😆. I got a kick out of you saying that! 😄
😂 rat roommates are the worst!
Love this video! For scenarios like the rat in the hotel, do you leave reviews anywhere for future goers?
Iceland was my first solo trip (from Seattle!) too - AND I had a cold! The 8-hour delay was on my second trip, though, and it was on my way home :)
Tip for anyone who might feel sick before going to Iceland: Take cold medicine with you! Unless things have changed since 2016, you cannot get OTC cold medicine like you can here in the States. Thankfully someone in my hostel (who was also from Seattle, small world) had some Airborne-like tablets from Poland that she shared with me, otherwise I would have been completely miserable on my trip.
I’d really love to see a video on how you planned this Iceland trip. I have a dream to go but would have no idea where to start or what to do 💛
Can you make these a regular series? Great video!
I love how real you are!
Love this video!!
I loved this video! That's what is always so funny about travel vlogs is that the delayed flights, creepy subway rides, lost passports, and 8 hour bus rides are typically edited out. Traveling is such an amazing and immersive experience but it is NEVER as glamorous as TH-cam/Instagram makes it seems. Thanks for sharing your stories, they were super entertaining!
Oh gosh, yup, welcome to Iceland!! We live with these things allll the time and the cost of it all. But it's a beautiful country and a wonderful life to be able to give our family. I am so glad you picked Iceland as your first solo adventure...I guess it could only get better from there on xx
I feel like these are highly useful cautionary tales. I would rather learn from your mistakes/challenges than learn all these things from first-hand experience. Thanks for sharing.
Love this video! I would imagine it would be a little hard to keep some of these things out of videos, just out of frustration.
very entertaining video Allison! :)
Cool idea. Samantha Ravndahl did this recently and it was quite interesting.
i love your solo travels
We were so lucky to be able to do the ice cave tour in iceland. I had a friend who was there at the same time and their tour the day before ours was cancelled. It's so hit and miss with the ice caves there, but it was such a cool experience
I'm sorry you had those experiencies. I'm sorry for what happened in Portugal. Being Portuguese and living in Portugal all I can say is sorry. Hope you consider to come back one day and have a better stay :)
I was in Alaska last year at the same time you were! I went on a land tour first and then a 7 night cruise. It was hands down the best experience I've ever had travelling.
I can't believe I missed this 3 months ago. Maybe the notification didn't come through. We would have never known but thanks for sharing these unfortunate calamities that you managed to survive with grace and humor. You rock!❤👍⛸
I saw your Iceland video and you hide your pain very well!
love your video
Totally agree with Alaska it far surpassed my expectations and we will never forget it.
Great video ! 🥰🥰
I love your background!
Can you please make a video on your new makeup routine and how you made the transition to minimal makeup? All of your new content speaks to my soul! Also maybe a similar video on minimizing your wardrobe. I know you've done a few videos but more on the mindset aspect of it.
Loved this video!! I am pretty savvy and well traveled. However, last year I was pick pocketed in Italy..😥! Luckily, I did not have all my cash or passport on me. I was pretty bummed, but managed to totally enjoy the rest of my trip.
I’ve done a few mini solo trips and I love hearing other people account their “oh shit” moments while traveling alone.
Honestly Allison, I am glad to hear there were some hiccups on your trips. You make them look so amazing that I think fairytale vacations. I do remember the story of your wallet - which is kinda fairytale. I sometimes feel like I am the ONLY person that has vacation issues - like someone is out to get me. Of course I do realize now that it’s just life and things happen.
Your videos are SO amazing that I feel like I’m there with you on each trip. I have watched you for years now and remember the Allison who was going to TH-cam events and trips, shopping all the time, reviewing makeup and showing her veggie meals. I’d rather hear you complain about some vacation issues than see another makeup tutorial. (Not that there’s anything wrong with makeup tutorials) I just LOVE the Allison you’ve become. She’s super cool. 😎
@14:45....the worst part about the rat in a room story is that the hotel front desk clerk didn't tell you it was a double occupancy.
I love this content
Oh Iceland 🙈 I visited this February just before Corona and we also had a trup cancelled due to severe storm and we had to sit in the hotel for most of the day bc it was sooo bad 🙈🙈🙈 but still loved the trip 😊
Iceland in the winter is SO tricky with its storms! I felt lucky the road was as clear and sunny as it was driving out to my tour... but then that was the reason the tour was cancelled. 😭
Thanks for doing this kind of video! I think it's really important for our generation's mental health to frequently be reminded that social media is not reality. Even though I know this, it's almost impossible to not fall into the trap of comparing your life to what you see of someone else's which is a pretty awful way to live.
You are so adorable ...💙
I like everything about you ... speaking skills , your way of expressing and everything about the travelling
I wish I had watched this a year ago...I feel like my San Diego adventure when my toddler helped me drop my phone into the ocean at Coronado, briefly stranding us until a stranger at Starbucks was able to loan us a phone charger after letting the phone dry out for two hours (since our ferry and bus passes, as well as of course Uber, were trapped in the phone), would have been a lot less stressful with these stories for perspective! Glad you made it through all these moments (and so many more, I’m sure)
OMG I had a train wreck experience in Iceland too in January! And it was my THIRD visit to the country that I love! Ended up spending thousands of dollars trying to save my trip. Many lessons learned. I think Iceland is cursed! LOL
I studied abroad in Senegal early this year. A group of us were on the same flight from JFK to Dakar. We'd all had just had a long day and night of travelling and we landed in the early morning. Basically the first thing we did in the country was get the key stuck in our hotel door! Most of the group's things were in that one room because the other rooms weren't ready when we arrived, so we were stuck without any of our things. We had no local money and didn't speak the language very well yet so we didn't have the confidence to go anywhere and we ended up sitting in the lobby for hours before the door was fixed. All we wanted to do was change our clothes and take a shower because it was so hot! We all loved our experiences afterwards but the first day was rough.
Another fun story: the day we got to our airbnb for spring break was the day we found out we all had to go home because of covid. That night, we scrambled to find flights and decided to enjoy the last few days there as much as possible. We had a great day the next day, but found out that night that Senegal was putting a travel ban on flights to and from Europe in just a couple days, and most of us had layovers in Europe. So then we all scrambled again to book earlier flights or direct ones, which was very difficult with the extremely slow wifi and no open flights. Some members of our group had to go to the Gambia(a bordering country) to get a flight out. It was crazy! Again, a good experience overall but it was a rollercoaster, especially with covid.
I really want to solo to Portugal after they open up. I remember you telling the lost your wallet story. Luckily the lady found it.
I really enjoy your success as a TH-camr. Important for me to see the downside also.
OMG! Sounds like my trip to Iceland. My flight from NC was changed the day before leaving. I went from a 4 hour layover in Texas to 12 hours. When I got to Iceland I met my friend and we were booked on a tour starting the next day. We toured Reykjavik that day then left on the tour. After the first day on the tour we had dinner and went to bed. That’s when things went down hill. I started having pains in my side/back area. Long story short, I had a kidney stone. Never have I ever had a kidney stone before. Our tour guide got up with me and my friend and got us an EMS unit and they took me to a hospital. After about 3 hours traveling back to the hospital and 5-6 hours in the hospital I passed the stone and was discharged. I then had to take a taxi back to the tour which was 3.5 hours back to the tour and it was $500.00 for the taxi and $800.00 for the hospital. So unexpected, but I did get back to my tour and my friend. I absolutely loved the tour and only missed one activity. Everything started during the night, which when we were there it was summer and 24 hour daylight. So I really didn’t miss a lot. That was my first time traveling solo from the states. I met my friend in Iceland but she is from Canada. We travel a lot together and I so enjoy it. Love your videos and you also inspired me to go on my own. I’m a widow ( in my mid 50’s). I met my friend Jan while I was in Ireland with another friend. I’m not sure if I could do the “complete solo travel” but now I have the confidence that I can travel internationally by myself (even if I’m meeting someone there) and enjoy the experience. Thank you.
Hi Allison what a great video ! I'm from France and booked a trip last night to Portugal for September, and in Lagos we are staying in the same hotel as you were (saw it on the bill), did you like the place ?
Have a nice day!
Do you only stay in hotels when you travel? Do you ever stay in hostels? Love your videos thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for your honesty
The rat story makes me LIVID!!! I grew up in a small apartment and at one point, we had a mice problem where they would sneak in our kitchen and that’s what developed my fear of mice and rats. I would be pissed if I stayed at that hotel!!!
On Instagram the posts are esthetic for the eye, it's normal to be like that! Beautiful places are like a cure for depression.
Good video 👍👍👍
Always nice to see/hear about the real stuff that happens too not just the glamour parts. Okay, how on earth did you even feel like you could close your eyes in that hotel even after changing rooms? I would have slept outside. LOL. Back in the 90s a friend and I went on a trip to Margarita Island, Venezuela. First mistake was going in May......soooooo hot and humid but I could live with that. Absolutely beautiful hotel, brand new and very classy. We were robbed during the night while sleeping. Fortunately, all the took was whatever cash was in our wallets. Passports, cameras, jewellery were all left untouched as were our travelers cheques. We were very lucky that was all that happened. What really upset us was when we reported to hotel staff all we got was when front desk opens, cash travellers cheque and pay room bill. What? Seriously!
Omg the rat story was all too real for me...in my first college (I moved elsewhere partially because of this story), our dorms were in a very old, historic building and on two occasions we had a rat in our room. The first time I was standing on a chair between our room and the hallway throwing cheese into the hallway hoping the rat will leave. The second was the worst - I woke up early in the morning to a scratching noise and there on my duvet was a rat. I will never forget that experience 😂🤦🏽♀️ It's funny now but at the time it was horrific. P.S. Your Alaska vlog is also my favorite you've done. I frequently rewatch it for the beautiful imagery - I WILL go to Alaska someday. Have to.